More Jockeying Before Gaza Pullout

Israelis killed seven Palestinians in a series of unrelated incidents Monday, including a Gaza air strike in which a militant died and a local leader was seriously wounded. Also, an Israeli-Arab television news producer, working for CNN, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen.

The Gaza attack came as each side pummels the other in the run-up to Israel's planned pullout from the crowded seaside territory next year.

An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a car east of the city of Khan Younis, killing Ali al-Shaer, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella of dissidents from several militant groups.

But Israeli military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the target was the other occupant of the car — Mohammed Abu Nasira, southern Gaza commander of the group. He was seriously burned and threatened revenge from his hospital bed.

"The (Israeli) crimes will not pass without punishment," he told The Associated Press by telephone. "I will continue my mission to terrorize the enemy (Israel), and we will win the battle."

Hundreds of people gathered around the white vehicle after the missile blast burned the passenger compartment, twisting the chassis but leaving the front half intact.

The Popular Resistance group was behind explosions that destroyed two Israeli tanks and is thought by some to have been involved in a similar blast that destroyed a vehicle in a U.S. Embassy convoy a year ago, killing three security guards.

Two other people were wounded in the air strike, one of dozens Israel has directed at Palestinian militants during four years of violence. Israel calls them self-defense strikes against potential terrorists, but Palestinians and human rights groups denounce them as summary executions.

Israel plans to pull its 8,200 settlers out of Gaza late next year, and Palestinian militants want to show that they are driving the Israelis out by force. Israel is determined to keep hitting the militants to deter them from attacking after the withdrawal.

At nightfall, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a producer for the TV network CNN at gunpoint, the network's correspondent, Ben Wedeman said. In a CNN broadcast from Gaza, Wedeman said the gunmen stopped a CNN van and extracted Riad Ali.

Wedeman, who said he was also in the van, did not know why Ali was kidnapped, and CNN was trying to win his release.

Ali is a Druze, an Israeli Arab with Israeli citizenship. According to the Jerusalem Post, he has been working with CNN and other foreign networks for many years. In the past he worked as a reporter for Israel's Channel 1.

Two other members of the CNN news team were beaten and their equipment was stolen, reported Haaretz newspaper.

Earlier Monday in Gaza, Israeli soldiers fired machine guns at the Khan Younis refugee camp, killing a 55-year-old civilian standing at a school gate, Palestinian security officials said.

The military said the only known shooting there was aimed at a Palestinian who appeared to be planting a bomb.

In the Rafah camp, Palestinians said four children were wounded by Israeli gunfire.

Near the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, troops killed two armed Palestinians. The men, who were carrying explosives, were crawling in a no-go zone near the border fence with Israel when soldiers opened fire, the army said.

In what is becoming a daily routine, Palestinians fired homemade rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot, just outside Gaza. Two residents were treated for shock.

In the West Bank, a Jewish settler shot and killed a Palestinian taxi driver. He told police the taxi tried to run him off the road, but Palestinian witnesses said the settler ambushed the taxi and opened fire for no reason. The Israeli was arrested.

In the nearby Balata refugee camp, troops shot dead two Palestinians, witnesses said. The military said soldiers fired at two armed men who were approaching an army post.

In the West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli troops hunting militants raided a hospital, searching rooms and calling on fugitives over loudspeakers to surrender.

Soldiers eventually left without making arrests, witnesses said. The hospital director said they caused considerable damage.

The wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti said her husband will run in Palestinian parliamentary elections expected next year.

Barghouti, considered a possible successor to Yasser Arafat, is serving multiple life terms after an Israeli court convicted him of involvement in attacks that killed Israelis.

"Marwan will definitely nominate himself as a candidate," his wife told The Associated Press.